Match Report

by David Sneddon

1368 Killie fans made the trip in wintry conditions to Donland to see Sir Steve Clarke’s men play Aberdeen in their Scottish Cup quarter final tie. With all league matches postponed the decision to play was questioned by a few, but the many made the long journey looking for Killie to continue their good performances.

Aberdeen welcomed back their influential player Shinnie, but due to the suspension of Considine he was playing at left back. Killie set up 442 with Boyd and Brophy up front and McKenzie, Power, Dicker and Jones in midfield. Rory and Jordon would need to do a lot of tracking back to cover the fullbacks from the overlapping Logan and Shinnie.

However, with just a few minutes gone, Shinnie overlapped down the left and was left on his own to cross the ball into the six-yard box. Jamie looked all at sea as the ball bounced past him and into the far corner. Not the start Killie were looking for. However, we now have a team that doesn’t know when it is beaten and we started to get more into the game. The pitch was in poor condition and this led to our midfield watching the ball sail over their heads on many occasions as the defence cleared their lines.

Brophy then raced away from Christie with the Aberdeen midfielder chasing his heels into the box. Brophy was fouled at least twice on his journey and just as he was about to pull the trigger, Christie clipped the back of his leg whilst at the same time pulling his shoulder. A clear penalty, but the referee Steven McLean (he never fails to disappoint) didn’t think so and with Brophy protesting, rubbed salt into the wounds by booking him.

Logan was then booked for a tackle from behind that left Brophy in a heap, which would prove potentially crucial later in the game.

A corner from McKenzie found Broadfoot at the back post and his goal bound header was clawed away by Woodman in the Aberdeen goal.

The first half finished with a golden chance for Boydie, but he unfortunately found row Z from 8 yards out.

The second half saw a change in Killie with us starting to pass the ball about. However, a free kick from Aberdeen found Arnison in the box who powered a header towards goal. Jamie made amends for his first half mistake by diving to his right to turn the ball round the post.

Brophy was substituted by Erwin and McKenzie by Burke with Killie now controlling the game.

Then the moment all Killie fans knew would eventually come. The Aberdeen defence dithered and JJ nipped into to shimmy past Arnison but was pushed from behind by Logan (right) with even McLean given no option but to award Killie a penalty. Should Logan have been given a yellow card and subsequently ordered off? McLean cowered out of a decision and did nothing.

Woodman tried to put Boydie off and even McLean got in the act by telling Boydie to re-spot the ball. However, there was no danger as Kris despatched the ball high into the corner with Woodman going the wrong way. Boydie then did his Sumo impression to the raging Aberdeen fans. If you are going to dish it out then you have to take it back loons.

With no other incidents of note, the game finished 1-1 with all to play for at Rugby a week on Tuesday. The fantastic Killie support had sung their hearts out and made their way back home…. probably via a few pubs on the way…

Comments

Steve Clarke: "The fans were marvellous. I knew they would be here because they’ve been excited about the team, they’ve enjoyed watching their team play and you see the performance today, the lads have given everything. When supporters see that their players are giving them everything then they’ll always get behind them. The Kilmarnock fans today made a magnificent effort to be here and I’m sure they’ll turn up in big numbers for the replay.
On the Penalty: "Sometimes you get them, some times you don't. We're not here to criticise referees, we're all here to help them. It was a good performance. It was always going to be a difficult game, and the surface didn't help either team. It made it hard to play good football - we tried. It was disappointing to go behind, but as always my players responded. They've got great character, great belief, and more than deserved a replay. We had chances to win. We kept plugging away and always looked like a threat."

Kris "Boomer" Boyd: “It’s part and parcel of football. A lot gets made that there’s no interaction with fans any more. For me it’s a bit of banter, if you give it out you take it back and vice-versa, it’s the same everywhere I go, it doesn’t bother me. I have criticised Aberdeen plenty in the past so if you give it out you have to take it back. The most important thing is we’re still in the cup. If you give a team like Aberdeen a goal of a start it can be a difficult afternoon and it was in spells. They’re a good team, they’ve been the second best team in Scotland for a number of years now and they’re still favourites to go through, there’s no doubt about that. We haven’t beaten them since 2012 so it will be difficult but we know if we perform we’ve got an opportunity of winning the game.”

Jamie MacDonald: “It is a great penalty — no goalkeeper is saving that because it is right in the top corner. He (Kris Boyd) thrives on these occasions, he has been doing it for years and hopefully he can get a few more in the replay. It gives us confidence having a guy like him up there. It isn’t all about Boydy, big Lee Erwin came on and done well and Eamonn Brophy is up there and he puts in a shift. But it’s great to have one of Scottish football’s top scorers ever up there, even if he is getting on a bit. It was a sloppy goal we lost. I went for it but Stevie May has made a run across the front post and I thought he might get a touch, and it maybe delayed my reaction. The way the weather has been it is unfair to moan about the pitch. We were disappointed to go 1-0 down but the gaffer told us to make sure we were in the hat at the end of the day and we have done that. This is another game in our busy schedule but we are looking forward to trying to reach the semis.”

Derek McInnes: "Although we had a couple of good chances, maybe the better chances in the second half after their goal, I still thought that Kilmarnock, after they scored, looked the team more prominent and took a lift from getting the goal, We got ourselves into a winning position and we've allowed it to slip through our hands, and we're just grateful to still be in the cup".